Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 and glutathione S-transferase M 1 polymorphisms in relation to the risk for oral cancer in Japanese drinkers.

Abstract We investigated 191 patients with oral cancer (121 males and 70 females) and 121 non oral cancer patients (69 males and 52 females), both groups with a history of alcohol use. Blood was analyzed with aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH 2) and glutathione S -transferase M 1 (GSTM 1) genotyping. ALDH 2 genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method and GSTM 1 genotyping was amplified with PCR using GSTM 1 specific primers. In the oral cancer group, the alcohol-drinking rate (59.7%) was significantly higher than in the non cancer group (alcohol-drinking rate 27.3%, p